Yellow Jacket Roundup: The Seventh Inning Stretch

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - Yours truly was out and about Friday all across the board and has some #hottakes.

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Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team played this weekend, hosting the ITA Southeastern Regionals. Kenya Jones made a deep run into the singles draw, before she ran into Ida Jarlskog. However, Jarlskog no longer plays for Tech, so it was sad. However, on the doubles side, she and freshman Dalila Said made it to the semifinals, so that was a nice little run they put together in their first play on the Flats. Good looks.

This week: The Racket Jackets head to Nashville this weekend to continue fall play.

Golf

Tech blazed out to a six stroke lead on Friday but was unable to hold on to it the rest of the weekend, as they finished their fall slate at 3rd in the 13th annual Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. Though they managed to recover slightly after plummeting all the way to fourth in the second day of play, Tech ultimately fell to both no. 10 Southern California and no. 15 Clemson, its first losses of the season, after previously being undefeated and sporting a clean 10-0 record against top-25 teams.

This week: We bid the Swingy Bois adieu until the spring.

No. 26/NR Swimming and Diving

If there was a weekend to see if Tech men’s swimming was for real in their top-25 bid this year, this was the weekend to do it. Both the men and women hosted NAIA Savannah College of Art and Design Friday, and the women were joined by Florida Gulf Coast and Miami. Tech easily swept SCAD, and the women beat FGCU as well. However, the real test came on Saturday, when a rested No. 23/18 Notre Dame team rolled into the McAuley Aquatic Center. The Fighting Irish, rated the fifth best men’s and fourth best women’s team in the conference, would prove a tough test for the Jackets, especially on no rest. Oh, and Miami was still there on day two. Anyways, the men ever-so-barely lost an absolute toss-up to their 23rd-ranked visitors, after knocking off top-20 Florida State in their previous conference tussle. With Tech knocking on the door of a ranking, this as much as anything should seal the deal that the Jackets have the talent to be a top-25 team, and a lot of the team is young. If they stay the course, and the improvement in scheduling helps them, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. Saying they’re the sixth best team in the conference wouldn’t be faint praise to a team that finished a fair bit lower than that last year in Greensboro. Keep it up. However, on the women’s side, the Jackets didn’t fair quite as well, and were more outmatched by their guests. They did manage to hang on and beat Miami, though, notching an always-appreciated conference win.

This week: The Jackets are at rest, since the schedule had dual meets on back-to-back days this weekend.

Volleyball

Friday, October 19th: Georgia Tech (13 - 9) falls to Florida State (12 - 7), 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23 (3 - 1).

Sunday, October 21st: Georgia Tech (13 - 10) is defeated by Miami (11 - 6), 25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 25-16 (3 - 1).

Georgia Tech women’s volleyball hasn’t found their groove in conference play. They played four extremely tight sets this Friday in Tallahassee, but fell to the Seminoles in three of them, taking the loss. Mariana Brambilla and Mikaila Dowd keep putting up gaudy double-doubles, but the attack percentages don’t lie - Tech had great numbers in the second set, but not so much in the other three. It is no coincidence that is the set they won. Against Miami on Sunday, the story was pretty similar. Senior Lauren Frerking had a great weekend, yet Tech’s absolutely absurd .778 attack percentage in the third set dwarfs their results in the other two. It’s hard to say what’s been the difference between the two halves of the season - the beginning was great - but they’re young and opponents with film are making adjustments. Tech beat a solid team from the school in Athens and they’ve got a lot of talent and a good staff. Like usual, there’s a big cluster of ACC teams with similar looking records, yet Tech, unlike the others, has matched gaudy out-of-conference win totals with more paltry results since. Sure, they didn’t play a crop of world-beaters in September, but Alabama, the school out east, and Arkansas aren’t bad teams, either. I’m not convinced that the Jackets, be it due to growing into the faster play in conference, opponents adapting, or plain old bad luck, are deserving of their 2-8 conference record. What matters the most now is the next game. And the game after that. Eight remain. Get more experience, rack up a handful of wins, and mack the most of it.

This week: The Jackets kick off their final homestand with visitors from Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

Softball

They played a marathon against West Georgia that was at 10-8 in favor of the visitors when a long pause came at the end of the seventh. The visitors put an 8-spot on the board in the top of the fifth and Tech had a chance to tie in the bottom of the seventh, but only got one run before play stopped. Naturally, after about a half an hour, when West Georgia returned to the plate, it was time for the basketball uniform unveiling, and without the score posted, it is unknown how it turned out for the Jackets.

This week: Fall ball concludes.

Men’s Tennis

The other Racket Jackets were at their own regional tournament this weekend in Athens, and saw varying levels of success. Freshman Cole Gromley rode a five game win streak to the Round of Sixteen, but fell in two sets. Andrew Li also made it to the Round of Sixteen, and was leading 6-2, 1-0, but retired due to injury. His status is unknown. These were the best fates of any of the Jackets, who have wrapped up the rest of their singles play for the weekend.

This week: Tech is idle until the last event of the fall slate, the Georgia Tech Invitational, at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex the weekend after next.

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This Week on the Flats:

BOLD for home, REGULAR for away, ITALIC for time and location

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: OFF

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday:
Football @ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
7:00 PM, Blacksburg, VA, ESPN and the Georgia Tech Football Radio Network

Friday:
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country @ ACC Championships
11:30 AM, Jamaica Plains, MA

Volleyball vs. North Carolina
7:00 PM, O’Keefe Gymnaisum, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Women’s Tennis @ June Stewart Invitational
All day, Nashville, TN

Saturday:
Baseball hosts Chattahoochee
11:00 AM, McAuley Aquatic Center

Women’s Tennis @ June Stewart Invitational
All day, Nashville, TN

Sunday:
Volleyball vs. North Carolina State
1:00 PM, O’Keefe Gymnasium, ACC Network Extra and WREK 91.1

Women’s Tennis @ June Stewart Invitational
All day, Nashville, TN